Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo, two of the founders of offshore cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, have pleaded guilty on Thursday for the violation of the United States Bank Secrecy Act by failing to establish anti-money laundering provisions.
Both of them have agreed to pay $10 million each as a criminal fine under the terms of their plea agreement. They are also looking at a maximum jail term of 5 years, but the judge will decide on the sentencing.
Deliberate Lapses
BitMEX was established in 2014 and gained popularity for offering 100x leverage Leverage In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders need to rely on leverage to make financial trading viable. Generally, the higher the fluctuation of an instrument, the larger the potential leverage offered by brokers. The market which offers the most leverage is undoubtedly the foreign exchange market, since currency fluctuations are relatively tiny. Of course, traders can select their account leverage, which usually varies from 1:50 to 1:200 on most forex brokers, although many brokers now offer up to 1:500 leverage, meaning for every 1 unit of currency deposited by the trader, they can control up to 500 units of that same currency. For example, if a trader was to deposit $1000 into a forex broker offering 500:1 leverage, it would mean the trader could control up to five hundred times their initial outlay, i.e. half a million dollars. Likewise, if an investor using a 1:200 leveraged account, was trading with $2000, it means they would be actually controlling $400,000, i.e. borrowing an additional $398,000 from the broker. Assuming this investment rises to $402,000 and the trader closes their trade, it means they would have achieved a 100% ROI by pocketing $2000. With leverage, the potential for profit is clear to see. Likewise, it also gives rise to the possibility of losing a much greater amount of their capital, because, had the value of the asset turned against the trader, they could have lost their entire investment.FX Regulators Clamp Down on Leverage Offered by BrokersBack in multiple regulators including the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) took material measures to protect retail clients trading rolling spot forex and contracts for difference (CFDs). The measures followed after years of discussion and the result of a study which showed the vast majority of retail brokerage clients were losing money. The regulations stipulated a leverage cap of 1:50 with newer clients being limited to 1:25 leverage. In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders need to rely on leverage to make financial trading viable. Generally, the higher the fluctuation of an instrument, the larger the potential leverage offered by brokers. The market which offers the most leverage is undoubtedly the foreign exchange market, since currency fluctuations are relatively tiny. Of course, traders can select their account leverage, which usually varies from 1:50 to 1:200 on most forex brokers, although many brokers now offer up to 1:500 leverage, meaning for every 1 unit of currency deposited by the trader, they can control up to 500 units of that same currency. For example, if a trader was to deposit $1000 into a forex broker offering 500:1 leverage, it would mean the trader could control up to five hundred times their initial outlay, i.e. half a million dollars. Likewise, if an investor using a 1:200 leveraged account, was trading with $2000, it means they would be actually controlling $400,000, i.e. borrowing an additional $398,000 from the broker. Assuming this investment rises to $402,000 and the trader closes their trade, it means they would have achieved a 100% ROI by pocketing $2000. With leverage, the potential for profit is clear to see. Likewise, it also gives rise to the possibility of losing a much greater amount of their capital, because, had the value of the asset turned against the trader, they could have lost their entire investment.FX Regulators Clamp Down on Leverage Offered by BrokersBack in multiple regulators including the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) took material measures to protect retail clients trading rolling spot forex and contracts for difference (CFDs). The measures followed after years of discussion and the result of a study which showed the vast majority of retail brokerage clients were losing money. The regulations stipulated a leverage cap of 1:50 with newer clients being limited to 1:25 leverage. Read this Term on cryptocurrency derivative instruments. The exchange officially withdrew its services from the US markets around September 2015, but the prosecutors said that both Hays and Delo knew that the move was a sham. The controls put in place by the exchange to prevent US customers from trading were ineffective.
According to the prosecutors, BitMEX knew about the US-based trading and was collecting substantial profits from their activities. They even lured US customers through influencer marketing Marketing Marketing is defined as the business process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers’ needs and wants.This is a crucial element of any operation or brokerage in the financial services space. Well-funded marketing campaigns are instrumental to the survival and longevity of these companies in an increasingly competitive industry.Within the forex space, marketers perform a wide range of functions to help procure, secure, or retain clients.In particular, newer forex brokers also have to handle the acquisition of traders, retaining them for a longer period of time or distinguishing between brokerage and competitors.What Are the Most Common Marketing Strategies Used by FX Brokers?This process can take shape in a variety of forms. Advertising is the most commonly deployed technique for forex marketing.This includes a marketing plan that touches on digital and traditional advertising. Advertising can include banner ads, notifications, newsletters, or other mechanisms for drawing attention to any brand or brokerage.Blog posting or other forms of search engine optimization (SEO) are also effective marketing tools for forex brokers.Well-organized and attractive pieces of content on websites are very useful for users and clients and have proven to be successful marketing strategies.Such efforts also enable websites to be found by those looking for what a broker offers and those who are looking for some knowledge about the trading industry. This can also help generate traffic on landing pages, converting sales. Social media has also rapidly evolved as a critical element of marketing.Forex brokers rely on social media such as Twitter, Facebook, or Linkedin for marketing needs, capable of reaching a huge audience. Ultimately marketing requires efforts on part of brokers to bridge the gap with their desired audience. In this instance, this means potential clients or existing ones. Marketing is defined as the business process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers’ needs and wants.This is a crucial element of any operation or brokerage in the financial services space. Well-funded marketing campaigns are instrumental to the survival and longevity of these companies in an increasingly competitive industry.Within the forex space, marketers perform a wide range of functions to help procure, secure, or retain clients.In particular, newer forex brokers also have to handle the acquisition of traders, retaining them for a longer period of time or distinguishing between brokerage and competitors.What Are the Most Common Marketing Strategies Used by FX Brokers?This process can take shape in a variety of forms. Advertising is the most commonly deployed technique for forex marketing.This includes a marketing plan that touches on digital and traditional advertising. Advertising can include banner ads, notifications, newsletters, or other mechanisms for drawing attention to any brand or brokerage.Blog posting or other forms of search engine optimization (SEO) are also effective marketing tools for forex brokers.Well-organized and attractive pieces of content on websites are very useful for users and clients and have proven to be successful marketing strategies.Such efforts also enable websites to be found by those looking for what a broker offers and those who are looking for some knowledge about the trading industry. This can also help generate traffic on landing pages, converting sales. Social media has also rapidly evolved as a critical element of marketing.Forex brokers rely on social media such as Twitter, Facebook, or Linkedin for marketing needs, capable of reaching a huge audience. Ultimately marketing requires efforts on part of brokers to bridge the gap with their desired audience. In this instance, this means potential clients or existing ones. Read this Term under their affiliate program.
Delo was even accused of changing BitMEX’s internal tracking information to show some popular customers’ countries other than the US.
At the time, Hayes and Delo held top executive positions at the exchange. The criminal allegations on them also forced the exchange to bring new faces to the top management.
“Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo built a company designed to flout [crime and corruption preventing] obligations; they willfully failed to implement and maintain even basic anti-money laundering policies,” said US Attorney Damian Williams. “They allowed BitMEX to operate as a platform in the shadows of the financial markets.”
Hayes and Delo were charged by the US prosecutors in October 2020, alongside another co-founder, Samuel Reed, and employee, Gregory Dwyer. The exchange also settled with the US authorities in separate civil charges, paying $100 million.
Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo, two of the founders of offshore cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, have pleaded guilty on Thursday for the violation of the United States Bank Secrecy Act by failing to establish anti-money laundering provisions.
Both of them have agreed to pay $10 million each as a criminal fine under the terms of their plea agreement. They are also looking at a maximum jail term of 5 years, but the judge will decide on the sentencing.
Deliberate Lapses
BitMEX was established in 2014 and gained popularity for offering 100x leverage Leverage In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders need to rely on leverage to make financial trading viable. Generally, the higher the fluctuation of an instrument, the larger the potential leverage offered by brokers. The market which offers the most leverage is undoubtedly the foreign exchange market, since currency fluctuations are relatively tiny. Of course, traders can select their account leverage, which usually varies from 1:50 to 1:200 on most forex brokers, although many brokers now offer up to 1:500 leverage, meaning for every 1 unit of currency deposited by the trader, they can control up to 500 units of that same currency. For example, if a trader was to deposit $1000 into a forex broker offering 500:1 leverage, it would mean the trader could control up to five hundred times their initial outlay, i.e. half a million dollars. Likewise, if an investor using a 1:200 leveraged account, was trading with $2000, it means they would be actually controlling $400,000, i.e. borrowing an additional $398,000 from the broker. Assuming this investment rises to $402,000 and the trader closes their trade, it means they would have achieved a 100% ROI by pocketing $2000. With leverage, the potential for profit is clear to see. Likewise, it also gives rise to the possibility of losing a much greater amount of their capital, because, had the value of the asset turned against the trader, they could have lost their entire investment.FX Regulators Clamp Down on Leverage Offered by BrokersBack in multiple regulators including the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) took material measures to protect retail clients trading rolling spot forex and contracts for difference (CFDs). The measures followed after years of discussion and the result of a study which showed the vast majority of retail brokerage clients were losing money. The regulations stipulated a leverage cap of 1:50 with newer clients being limited to 1:25 leverage. In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders need to rely on leverage to make financial trading viable. Generally, the higher the fluctuation of an instrument, the larger the potential leverage offered by brokers. The market which offers the most leverage is undoubtedly the foreign exchange market, since currency fluctuations are relatively tiny. Of course, traders can select their account leverage, which usually varies from 1:50 to 1:200 on most forex brokers, although many brokers now offer up to 1:500 leverage, meaning for every 1 unit of currency deposited by the trader, they can control up to 500 units of that same currency. For example, if a trader was to deposit $1000 into a forex broker offering 500:1 leverage, it would mean the trader could control up to five hundred times their initial outlay, i.e. half a million dollars. Likewise, if an investor using a 1:200 leveraged account, was trading with $2000, it means they would be actually controlling $400,000, i.e. borrowing an additional $398,000 from the broker. Assuming this investment rises to $402,000 and the trader closes their trade, it means they would have achieved a 100% ROI by pocketing $2000. With leverage, the potential for profit is clear to see. Likewise, it also gives rise to the possibility of losing a much greater amount of their capital, because, had the value of the asset turned against the trader, they could have lost their entire investment.FX Regulators Clamp Down on Leverage Offered by BrokersBack in multiple regulators including the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) took material measures to protect retail clients trading rolling spot forex and contracts for difference (CFDs). The measures followed after years of discussion and the result of a study which showed the vast majority of retail brokerage clients were losing money. The regulations stipulated a leverage cap of 1:50 with newer clients being limited to 1:25 leverage. Read this Term on cryptocurrency derivative instruments. The exchange officially withdrew its services from the US markets around September 2015, but the prosecutors said that both Hays and Delo knew that the move was a sham. The controls put in place by the exchange to prevent US customers from trading were ineffective.
According to the prosecutors, BitMEX knew about the US-based trading and was collecting substantial profits from their activities. They even lured US customers through influencer marketing Marketing Marketing is defined as the business process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers’ needs and wants.This is a crucial element of any operation or brokerage in the financial services space. Well-funded marketing campaigns are instrumental to the survival and longevity of these companies in an increasingly competitive industry.Within the forex space, marketers perform a wide range of functions to help procure, secure, or retain clients.In particular, newer forex brokers also have to handle the acquisition of traders, retaining them for a longer period of time or distinguishing between brokerage and competitors.What Are the Most Common Marketing Strategies Used by FX Brokers?This process can take shape in a variety of forms. Advertising is the most commonly deployed technique for forex marketing.This includes a marketing plan that touches on digital and traditional advertising. Advertising can include banner ads, notifications, newsletters, or other mechanisms for drawing attention to any brand or brokerage.Blog posting or other forms of search engine optimization (SEO) are also effective marketing tools for forex brokers.Well-organized and attractive pieces of content on websites are very useful for users and clients and have proven to be successful marketing strategies.Such efforts also enable websites to be found by those looking for what a broker offers and those who are looking for some knowledge about the trading industry. This can also help generate traffic on landing pages, converting sales. Social media has also rapidly evolved as a critical element of marketing.Forex brokers rely on social media such as Twitter, Facebook, or Linkedin for marketing needs, capable of reaching a huge audience. Ultimately marketing requires efforts on part of brokers to bridge the gap with their desired audience. In this instance, this means potential clients or existing ones. Marketing is defined as the business process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers’ needs and wants.This is a crucial element of any operation or brokerage in the financial services space. Well-funded marketing campaigns are instrumental to the survival and longevity of these companies in an increasingly competitive industry.Within the forex space, marketers perform a wide range of functions to help procure, secure, or retain clients.In particular, newer forex brokers also have to handle the acquisition of traders, retaining them for a longer period of time or distinguishing between brokerage and competitors.What Are the Most Common Marketing Strategies Used by FX Brokers?This process can take shape in a variety of forms. Advertising is the most commonly deployed technique for forex marketing.This includes a marketing plan that touches on digital and traditional advertising. Advertising can include banner ads, notifications, newsletters, or other mechanisms for drawing attention to any brand or brokerage.Blog posting or other forms of search engine optimization (SEO) are also effective marketing tools for forex brokers.Well-organized and attractive pieces of content on websites are very useful for users and clients and have proven to be successful marketing strategies.Such efforts also enable websites to be found by those looking for what a broker offers and those who are looking for some knowledge about the trading industry. This can also help generate traffic on landing pages, converting sales. Social media has also rapidly evolved as a critical element of marketing.Forex brokers rely on social media such as Twitter, Facebook, or Linkedin for marketing needs, capable of reaching a huge audience. Ultimately marketing requires efforts on part of brokers to bridge the gap with their desired audience. In this instance, this means potential clients or existing ones. Read this Term under their affiliate program.
Delo was even accused of changing BitMEX’s internal tracking information to show some popular customers’ countries other than the US.
At the time, Hayes and Delo held top executive positions at the exchange. The criminal allegations on them also forced the exchange to bring new faces to the top management.
“Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo built a company designed to flout [crime and corruption preventing] obligations; they willfully failed to implement and maintain even basic anti-money laundering policies,” said US Attorney Damian Williams. “They allowed BitMEX to operate as a platform in the shadows of the financial markets.”
Hayes and Delo were charged by the US prosecutors in October 2020, alongside another co-founder, Samuel Reed, and employee, Gregory Dwyer. The exchange also settled with the US authorities in separate civil charges, paying $100 million.